Jim Hendrickson

The most distant object I've ever observed: PG 1634+706, a quasar located 8.6 billion light-years away in the constellation Draco (near the bowl of the Little Dipper), imaged with 80mm refractor at f/4.8 with unmodified Canon SLR, stack of 11 30s exposures at ISO2000.

@museumofscience Things I've seen: Total solar eclipse Total lunar eclipse Major auroral display Major meteor storm Transits of Mercury Transits of Venus Naked-eye comets Lunar occultations of planets Extragalactic supernovae Things I haven't seen: Close flyby of a NEO Supernova in the Milky Way

What celestial event is on your bucket list to witness? 🌌

Spring is here in the Northern Hemisphere! 🌸 Today is the spring equinox. Because Earth is tilted on its axis, the Northern and Southern Hemispheres receive changing amounts of sunlight throughout the year. At the equinox, both hemispheres receive the same amount of sunlight.

[Please Share] Calling all weather enthusiasts! We'll be kicking off our 2026 SKYWARN Storm Spotter training program in April! 📍Classes are FREE & open to the public. Our first class is in Putnam early next month. For more information & to register visit weather.gov/boston/skywarn

Friday 13 Feb at 8pm GMT/UT I'm 'Zooming' over to Mid Kent Astro Society to do my Shadows in Space talk. The Zoom meeting is open to non-members for a £5 entry fee paid via BACS. If you want to join on Zoom drop me a message and I'll send over the instructions.

Students from Brown’s Astronomy Club and an introductory astronomy class gathered at the Barus & Holley observatory to photograph the only total lunar eclipse of 2026 visible from North America. Check out the images they captured: brown.edu/news/2026-03-0…

There are more possible chess games than atoms in the observable universe ♟️🌌 Chess has about 10¹²⁰ possible games, known as the Shannon Number. That’s far more than the roughly 10⁸⁰ atoms scientists estimate exist in the observable universe. What’s your go-to first move? ♟️

Need someone to blame for springtime misery? Look no further than ALAN*! Researchers using @NASAEarth satellite data found that artificial lights at night (ALAN) can contribute to longer, more intense allergy seasons. *Sorry to any Alans reading this. go.nasa.gov/4cxLI5R

@TheStoryShorey Thank you Ethan. Farewell and good luck in your next endeavors. Keep in touch.

Farewell and good night. It's been a run. ♥️

📣 SPECIAL LIVESTREAM! 📣 🗓️ Tomorrow! Saturday 3/7 1:30PM CT 🌟 The 2026 Great Lecture in Astronomy - Galactic Archaeology: The History of Our Cosmic Home, presented by associate professor of astronomy @UTAustin, Keith Hawkins! Hope you can join us! ow.ly/jPp450YqpIr

@RobertBurnhamJr Interesting how the spelling has evolved, as the IAU has it cataloged as "Mirzam." This has happened with several other stars as well. exopla.net/star-names/mod…

Beta Canis: MURZIM or MURZAM, 'The Announcer,' from the fact that it rises just before Sirius and therefore heralds the appearance of the great Dog Star. This is the standard example of rare pulsating B-type giants distinguished by ultra-short periods and small amplitudes.

Map of all active & planned Solar System missions and their destinations as of March 1st 2026. Probable Artemis 2 launch in April, more Moon missions this Month. Solar Orbiter & Parker perihelia. #keepExploring

Happening tonight!

The largest spot-the-difference effort EVER has begun!🚨 On the night of Feb 24, NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory officially released its first ~800,000 public alerts of detected changes in the night sky!🔍 A new era of discovery is here✨ 🔗: rubinobservatory.org/news/first-ale…

PMR 1 appears to have distinct regions that capture different phases of its evolution: an outer shell of gas (mostly hydrogen) that was blown off first, and an inner cloud (a mix of gases) with more structure. Both the #NIRCam and #MIRI images show a dark lane running vertically through the middle of the nebula, giving it its brain-like appearance of left and right hemispheres. This lane could be related to an outburst or outflow from the central star.

@starstryder Congratulations Pamela! 🪨

It happened! I became an asteroid!

[February 23rd, 2026 Blizzard Snow Totals] 📏Here's a look at all the ❄️snow reports we received from yesterday's historic blizzard! Thank you very much to everyone who submitted their snowfall reports. #MAwx #RIwx #CTwx

Join us next Friday to learn about the oldest light in the universe and what it can tell us about our origins.

@RocketLab Please tell me we’re still going to Venus.

Who cares about talking to Mars? We all should. Read: 6 reasons the Mars Telecommunications Orbiter matters to us all. rocketlabcorp.com/updates/6-reas…

Mercury clearing the limb of the moon, captured just a moment ago from Texas

Hubble has joined forces with ESA's Euclid and NAOJ's Subaru Telescope in Hawaii to identify a galaxy that appears to be 99% dark matter! Read more 👉 esa.int/Science_Explor…